Fuel made from anthracite-coal refuse and process of making same.



A. SCHMIDT. FUEL MADE FROM ANTHRACITE COAL REFUSE AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME. PPLICATION FILED SEPT-2,1909

1 ,1 92,942. Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

m h ar JI'TO/PIVEK ra n STATES res sto se FUEL MAIDE FROM ANTHRACITE-COAL REFUSE ANl) PROCE-Eiic? Specification of letters Patent.

3F MAKING SAME.

iatented Aug. l, lit-H 5.

Application filed September 2, 1809. Seriai 515,746.

To all whomit mag/concern- Be it known that 1, ANDREW. SCHMIDT, a citizen ofth'e- United States, residing. at the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of-Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Fuel Made from AnthraciteCoal Refuse and Process of Making Same, of which the following is a specification. I

Objects of the present invention are to utilize the waste of anthracite coal or the refuse from anthracite coal mining including the waste or dust from coke'for the production of satisfactory fuel which shall be comparatively inexpensive, capable of with.- standing the action-of moisture, combustible with the evolution of satisfactory heat and in a satisfactory manner, coherent in combustion and adapted when ivetto burn with the evolution of considerable gas; to provide a binder for the material mentioned which shall be comparatiyely inexpensive, adapted to hold the mass togetherwhen wet or'exposed to moisture and capable of agglomerating the mass in such a way that the agglomerate stands up orremains practically intact during the combustion of the combustible matter and this even though the agglomerate be'wet when fired; to provide comparatively inexpensive fuel manufactured from the;v materials referred to and which shall be porous, capable of resisting the action of moisture, obtainable in pieces of almost any size, capable of burning satisv factorily with the'evolution of appropriate heat, adapted to retain its form after firing and during combustion and having the property, 'when fired wet, of generating considerable combustible gas; and to provide an expeditious, cheap and commercially satis factory method of manufacturing such fuel from the materials mentioned.

For thesake of a description of the best way now known to me for practising myinrention I will state the proportions and ingredients which have been found to be satis factory. In 2,240 pounds of the product there are used thefollowing ingredients in the following proportions more or less: an-

thracite coal waste orr'efuse of anthracite coal mining, including coal, slate, so called bone, or slat-y coal sometimes soapstone and perhaps other ingredients and perhaps without some of the ingredients mentioned, just as it comes. 2,000 pounds: unslalred lime (30 pounds; lamp-black 8 pounds; water 172 pounds, which is the uat'erthat goes into the product. More water may be used in the manufacture as will ap'pi from the f lime ing description. The refuse or waste is a ailable in the form of limips or 'iieccs of varying sizes, mostly re small. as is well understood by those fairiniar-witbf. what known as culm or the waste of anthracite mines. I intend to include in tli. term an- 6 thracite coal waste or refuse not only whatthat term ordinarily implies but also colic dust or waste and in the case of the last mentioned material. three times as ma -l: lamp-black must be used as in the main above given.

To prepare the fuel the unslalciil lime lamp-blast: in powdered form may be ill 7 in advanceand that is'tlie way that .l. use them although I do not ii'itcnd to limit myself to using these materials separately The mixture is introduced into water as is also the waste or refusel There is considerablc water, as lowing sti eaimand T will refer to it as a. flushing operation. The ingredients are stirred up in the liquid so that the surfaces of the particles of the waste or refuse are wet and a mass of thcsrwet particles is permitted to rcst, set and dry: They form a'porous. agglomerate' which can be made of'almost any size and may be broken up for use if desired. The mixing process is carried on cold and it might be said with a flushing of watery The setting or drying process commences when the material looks like wet waste or refuse 'and it continues for several days when the material formsa porous hardagglomerate.

It is diiiicult to describe just why there is formed in the mixture a cement but at any .9 rate such is the fact and it may be due to the shaking of the lime in the presence of the lamp-black and waste or refuse while flushed with water or the acid character of the refuse'or waste may play somepart. However, the cementing action gives rise to a porous structure and to a product which will burn without undue crumbling or in fact without any substantial crumoling which will resist the action of moisture and which. constitutes a sat being advantageous y planation lir.

that the bull-Z considerable, distributed tlll' more the fluffy material is to cause the binder not only to set and set very hard but to resist the disintegrating action of water and moisture.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown apparatus in connection with which I have successfully practised my invention but the latter is not limited to such appa ratus although it is the best of which I have knowledge.

In the drawings Figure 1, is a pers 'iective view, and Fig. 2, is a transverse sectional view drawn to an enlarged scale.

1, is an open top trough which may be arranged at a slight inclination.

2, is a pipe for delivering water to the head end of this trough.

3, is a chute for delivering the anthracite coal waste or refuse to the side of the trough at the head end thereof.

4-, is a chute for delivering the mixture of slaked lime and lamp-black to the head end of the trough. Within the trough is arranged a rotating spiral 5. It clears the sides of the trough and runs at considerable speed.

In the practice of the process the trough and spiral are well flushed with water and the other ingredients may be introduced dry and are thoroughly mixed together and with the Water. In fact the solid materials while traveling; through the trough are thrown up to one side thereof while the liquid is more or less carried around with the spiral. At the end of the trough the anthracite coal waste or refuse, or more accurately, the wet particles thereof together with any excess of liquid escape and fall into a pile. The. pile is spread out and. the n'iatcrial permitted to remain at rest for several. days during which it sets into a hard porous mass which can be broken up into pieces of any size or used as it If desired the pile of material can be permitted to dry and set in molds or sepa rated masses; The finished material can be handled and dcliviia'ed like coal since it is not attracted by moisture or rain in any way that causes it to soften or deteriorate. It can be tired wet or dry and if fired wet considerable combustible gas is generated. The fire burns for a comparatively lon g period or keeps in, as it is said, and in the fire the fuel does not break or crumble unduly but sustains whatever burden it has to carry. In fact the lumps of material retain their form while their combustible constituents are consumed.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. An improved fuel agglomerate of anthracite coal waste and a calcareous binder set from an excess of water, characterized by the presence of lampblack and by the porous combustion promoting structure of the binder resulting from the action upon the binder as it sets of air included in the lampblack and liberated therefrom while held in suspension by the conjoint action of the coalwaste, excess of water and calcareous binder.

2. An improved agglomerate of anthracite coal waste and a calcareous binder set from an excess of water. characterized by the presence of air bearing dust and by the porous combustion pron'ioting structure of the binder resulting from the action upon the binder as it sets of air included in the air bearing dust and liberated therefrom while held i1 suspension by the conjoint action of the coal waste, excess of water and calcareous binder.

a. The process of in'iparting porosity to the calcareous binder of an anthracite coal included air into the mixture with an excess of water and allowing the mixture to hold the lampblack in suspension during the setting operation.

, i. The process of imparting porosity to the calcareous binder of an anthracite coal waste agglomerate, which consists in introducing air throughout the calcareous binder 

